The Missouri Small Business Development Centers (SBDC) recently recognized Robert Janota, president of Inter-Rail Systems Inc., with the "Excellence in Business Award" and its "Most Entrepreneurial Award."

Janota, of Cape Girardeau, was presented with the awards at a banquet in Jefferson City, Mo. Janota had worked with and was nominated by Buz Sutherland, director of the SBDC at Southeast Missouri State University.

The award recognizes Janota for his determination, diligence and entrepreneurship in the development of Inter-Rail Systems Inc., which provides management of commercial and industrial wastes and by-products, both hazardous and nonhazardous. In receiving the award, Inter-Rail Systems Inc. was recognized for having the necessary attributes to succeed in the small business arena.

In addition, Inter-Rail Systems Inc. received the Missouri SBDC's "Most Entrepreneurial" Award, which recognizes a company's innovation in developing a unique idea to meet a unique need.

Inter-Rail recycles materials such as plastics, rubber, wood, paper, cardboard and textiles. Inter-Rail also has the ability, for materials that cannot be directly recycled into products, to process materials into an alternate fuel to be used by power producers. In addition, Inter-Rail is involved in environmental remediation, providing project management and general contracting of all or part of remediation projects.

"Bob Janota is the classic entrepreneur," Sutherland said. "He examined the business horizons both short term and long term, saw a niche, did his homework and, when the timing was right, seized the opportunity to start his own business. The financial success of his business for its first year of operation attests to his business acumen. Bob is well on his way to accounting for high impact in the areas of sales increase and employment in Southeast Missouri. He has been an excellent client in a 'hot' industry, taking full advantage of the services available through the Southeast SBDC. What a great combination."

Janota said the assistance provided to him by the SBDC has been invaluable during his start-up year. "Our first year has been filled with many business opportunities which have lead to steady growth and profitability," Janota said. "I think many of these business milestones could not have been achieved without the business knowledge of the SBDC and the assistance of the Small Business Development Center's many resources. I am especially grateful for the extension of the SBDC's business contacts at the Missouri Department of Economic Development and other business resources to ensure Inter-Rail Systems' success."

The Southeast SBDC has worked closely with Janota as his company negotiated agreements with several large manufacturers in Southeast Missouri to recycle their rubber and plastic scrap. These agreements required the relocation of Inter-Rail Systems Inc. into a larger facility for the processing of the rubber and plastic scrap into alternative fuel. The SBDC along with the Missouri Department of Economic Development assisted in helping Janota locate available space. This expansion will accommodate the manufacture of alternative fuel using rubber and plastic scrap product and is scheduled to come on line during the first quarter of 2000. The expansion also is expected to create 10 new jobs in Charleston, Mo.

Janota says the upcoming fiscal year will be particularly exciting for Inter-Rail Systems as he takes his business to the next level.

"This expansion not only will put Inter-Rail Systems on the cutting edge of recycling, but also will create employment opportunities in an area that desperately needs them," he said.

The SBDC at Southeast Missouri State University has been assisting Janota with his business for more than 18 months. During that time, Sutherland has provided Janota with advice and counsel regarding management issues, marketing opportunities, both domestic and international, and identifying available buildings and expansion opportunities for his business.

Bob Janota is extremely well qualified both educationally and via work experience in the environmental marketplace, Sutherland said.

The Department of Music at Southeast Missouri State University cordially invites the public to the annual spring concert of the University Choir on Thursday, April 13, at 8:p.m. in Old St. Vincent's Church.

Dr. John Egbert directs the University Choir, which is accompanied by Laura Bollinger and Tyson Wunderlich.

Old St. Vincent's Church is located in downtown Cape Girardeau at the intersection of Spanish and William Streets. Admission to the concert is $5 for adults, $3 for students and senior citizens, or free with a University ID.

The concert opens with a group of pieces from the Renaissance and Baroque periods. They are "Exsultate Justi" (Viadana), "Tu pauperum refugium" (Josquin), "Tanzen und Springen" (Hassler), "Me, Me and None but Me" (Dowland) and "We Will Remember Thy Name" and "Alleluia Amen" (Handel).

The middle portion of the concert features settings of folk song from the United States and the British Isles. They are "Saints Bound for Heaven" (Shaw/Parker), "Blow the Candles Out" (Smith), "O Whistle and I'll Come to Ye" (Wilberg), "Cool of the Day" (Ratledge) and "How Can I Keep from Singing?" (Staheli).

The final portion of the concert features representative pieces of 20th Century American choral music "In a Strange Land" (Jones), "Wedding Canata" (Pinkham), and "Tonight Eternity Alone" (Clausen).

The University's next choral concert is scheduled for Tuesday, May 2, when the University Choir will combine with the Choral Union and the University Symphony Orchestra to perform the Fauré "Requiem." One of the most universally-known and most popular works in the choral/orchestral literature, Fauré's "Requiem" has been requested numerous times over the past several years by local patrons. That concert will be presented in Academic Auditorium at 8 p.m.

Whitney Harris, who served as trial counsel at the trial of the major German war criminals before the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg, will speak April 12 at Southeast Missouri State University.

The presentation, along with an additional panel session featuring Holocaust survivors Marylou Ruhe, Anna Gruber and Rudolf Oppenheim, and Col. Henry Gerecke, whose father was an American Lutheran pastor at the Nuremberg Trial, is being held in commemoration of Holocaust Awareness Week.

Harris' keynote Common Hour presentation is scheduled for noon to 1:20 p.m. in Glenn Auditorium of Robert A. Dempster Hall. The panel discussion is scheduled for later that afternoon from 3 to 5 p.m., also in Glenn Auditorium.

Whitney Harris. Harris was awarded the Legion of Merit, the highest decoration received by any trial counsel, for his services at Nuremberg. In 1954, Harris published the first definitive book on this historic trial. The book was titled Tyranny on Trial, the Evidence at Nuremberg. The New York Times Book Review described it as "the first complete historical and legal analysis of the Nuremberg trial." A second edition of Tyranny on Trial was published in 1995, and a third edition in 1999. The Third Edition covers war crimes trials after Nuremberg, especially trials of alleged German war criminals in national courts. The Third Edition also deals comprehensively with the statute for a permanent International Criminal Court adopted at Rome in 1998 subject to ratification by the signatory nations.

Of these historic events, Harris concludes, "Nuremberg and Rome stand against the resignation of humankind to its self-debasement and self-destruction. The achievements of that great trial and historic conference in elevating justice and law over inhumanity and war give promise for a better tomorrow."

After his work at Nuremberg, Harris served as chief of legal advice on the staff of General Lucius Clay in Berlin through the perilous period of the Berlin blockade. He returned to the United States as professor of law at Southern Methodist University, was named director of the Legal Services Task Force of the 1953 Hoover Commission, became the first executive director of the American Bar Association, served as solicitor general of Southwestern Bell Telephone Co. in St. Louis and engaged in the private practice of law until his retirement.

Harris has published numerous books and articles and has lectured at leading American universities and abroad. In 1980, he established the Whitney R. Harris Collection on the Third Reich of Germany at Washington University and has been actively engaged in many philanthropic grants and activities. He is a retired captain in the U.S. Navy, with 20 years of active and retired service, and a member of the California, Texas and Missouri Bar Associations and is a senior counselor of the Missouri Bar.

Three Holocaust survivors are will participate in a panel discussion at 3 p.m. April 12. Rudy Oppenheim was born in 1938 in Germany. Early in 1939, in the aftermath of Kristallnacht and his father's release from a concentration camp, the Oppenheim family left Germany. Because there were few countries that permitted Jews to emigrate during this period, Oppenheim and his family relocated to Shanghai for nearly two years.

In 1940, the Oppenheim family came to Granite City, the site of a fertilizer company with which Oppenheim's father had done business for year while in Germany. In 1943, the family moved to St. Louis

Oppenheim is a graduate of Washington University and worked as a chemist for 39 years before retiring in 1994. He currently volunteers as a docent at the St. Louis Holocaust Museum and Learning Center. He also is president and caretaker of the Ohave Shalom Cemetery, which is the smallest Jewish cemetery west of the Mississippi.

Oppenheim and his wife, Frances, have four children and six grandchildren. Marylou Ruhe, who now lives in St. Louis, was born in the city of Lodz, Poland. She survived the Lodz Ghetto, the Auschwitz Death Camp and the Enforced Labor Camps. She is a docent at the St. Louis Holocaust Museum and Learning Center, as well as a speaker giving lectures and presentations in Greater St. Louis and Illinois. She is a writer of short stories based on her memories of the Holocaust.

Anna Gruber was born in Breslau, Germany, and grew up in Lodz, Poland. When Germany invaded Poland in 1939, Gruber went to Warsaw to search for her husband, who had gone to the capital to defend against the Nazis. She could not find him and shortly thereafter escaped to the Soviet Union. Later, she secretly went back to Poland and the Lodz ghetto to try and bring out members of her family. She rescued two sisters and one cousin, all of whom survived in Siberia with her. When Gruber came to the United States, she brought some of her relatives here. She taught Germany and Russian in Affton High School for 21 years. Gruber is a docent at the Museum and has family living in St. Louis.

The hand-made quilt made by the River Heritage Quilters Guild to honor Southeast Missouri State University's 125th anniversary has been selected to be displayed at the American Quilters Society quilt show in Paducah.

The Paducah quilt show is the one of the largest quilt shows in the United States. About 300 to 400 quilts will be on display for competition. A total of more than $100,000 will be awarded to quilters across the United States. The grand-prize winner of the competition will receive $18,000.

"It's quite an honor that it has been accepted," said Cheryl Reinagel, a member of the Guild. "It's the first Guild quilt that has been accepted in the Paducah show."

The American Quilters Society quilt show will be held April 13-16 at the Executive Inn Convention Center in Paducah.

The Guild presented the quilt to the University in a special ceremony last April. The quilt has been on permanent display in the University Center.

River Heritage Quilters Guild donated the 95-by125-inch size quilt to Southeast last year. The quilt is a dedication to many past and present buildings on the University campus. The centerpiece of the quilt depicts Academic Hall and each of the 14 surrounding perimeter blocks represents each of the other buildings on campus, including the original Normal School. An appliquéd border frames the entire quilt.

University representatives first contacted the River Heritage Quilters Guild about making the quilt in April 1998. The Guild agreed to take on the project and formed a committee to spearhead the work. Committee members were Tenna Henning, Judy Robinson, Mary K. Reed, Betty Cord, Jewel Eggley, Madeline Gieselman, Cookie Little, Glenda Nations and Vonda Slinkard. Robinson and Reed served as designers. In total, 41 quilters have worked on the project and have invested 1,200 hours in putting the quilt together.

"I was proud to be involved in this project. It is a very beautiful quilt," said Merle Deneke, president of the River Heritage Guild.

Alpha Sigma Lambda recognizes the special achievements of adults who accomplish academic excellence while facing competing interests of home and work. Founded in 1945-1946 by Dr. Rollin Posey, dean of University College at Northwestern University, the national honor society has grown to include hundreds of chartered chapters through the United States. Lisa Peden, coordinator of student life studies and commuter student services, and Joyce Becker, director of continuing education, advise the local chapter at Southeast.

To be eligible, students must be in the top 10 percent of adult undergraduate learners, with at least a 3.2 grade point average, and at least 24 graded credits from Southeast Missouri State University.

The Alpha Sigma Lambda (ASL) Foundation is sponsoring seven national scholarships for 2000-2001, each worth $1,000. Each chapter of ASL may submit two contestants for this national competition. Students need not be members of Alpha Sigma Lambda to apply. Preference will be given to adult learners who are involved both on- and off-campus, who demonstrate financial need, and who have high cumulative hours and grade point averages. Applications are available in the Office of Student Life Studies, which is in Room 422 of the University Center, and are due in that office by April 5.

PROSPECTIVE STUDENTS AND THEIR PARENTS INVITED TO 'SHOW ME DAY' APRIL 15

Prospective students and their parents are invited to "Show Me Day" April 15 at the Show Me Center.

"Show Me Day", which is scheduled for noon, is an opportunity for all individuals interested in attending college to take a closer look at Southeast and check out the numerous options Southeast provides, said Stacy Busch, Southeast admissions counselor.

The day's events will begin with a "College Fair" in which students may browse through informational displays of the University's various academic departments. Professors from each department will be on hand to answer questions, Busch said. Students also will be able to get information about the total Southeast experience, from career choices, academic majors and residence life to financial aid, career services and student activities.

Following the "College Fair" portion of the day, students and parents will hear brief presentations from Jay Goff, Southeast director of admissions; Dr. Kimberly Barrett, associate provost and dean of students; and Tanya Efken, president of Student Government.

Students and their parents will break up into small groups to tour the campus. Busch said both walking and bus tours will be available, and students will have the opportunity to view a Southeast residence hall room. After campus tours, a financial aid and residence life presentation will be given. The day's activities will end with a reception.

If you are interested in registering for "Show Me Day," call the Admissions Office at (573) 651-2590.

The 1999-2000 academic year has proven to be a pivotal one with new leadership at the helm as Southeast Missouri State University continues its work to create a School of Visual and Performing Arts at the institution's River Campus and to construct a Polytechnic Building.

Last May, the University's Board of Regents promoted Dr. Kenneth W. Dobbins, formerly Southeast executive vice president, to the position of president of Southeast. At the same time, the Board announced the reassignment of then President Dale F. Nitzschke to the newly created position of chancellor.

Both appointments took effect July 1. The University also hopes to soon name a new provost to replace Dr. Charles Kupchella, who left Southeast last summer to become president of the University of North Dakota. Five finalists for the position of Southeast provost recently visited the campus as part of a two-day interviewing process. The field since has been narrowed to three finalists.

Meanwhile, Nitzschke's new duties as chancellor involve extensive fund-raising, especially for the University's School of Polytechnic Studies and the River Campus, as well as federal government relations. Dobbins, who has had a wide range of leadership positions since coming to Southeast in 1991, says he is committed as Southeast's new president to fully implementing and updating the University's strategic plan.

"The Board of Regents has made it clear that is expects the University to continue making progress toward the six priority areas of the strategic plan," Dobbins said. "We have major initiatives under way to address each of these priorities and are planning to develop new strategies that will guide our decision-making for the coming years."

River Campus

Southeast's current strategic plan calls for the University to serve as a significant source of regional cultural and fine arts programming. The University's River Campus project is expected to boost Southeast's efforts in this area. Plans call for the River Campus to house a School of Visual and Performing Arts that will bring together the University's programs in art, music, theatre and dance at a former Catholic seminary on the banks of the Mississippi River.

Renovations and major additions to the facility are planned, with the estimated cost at $38 million. The River Campus will house the University's art, theatre, music and dance programs, and will include a 1000-seat performance hall, a smaller stage for the theatre department, a music recital hall, a museum for art and regional history, classrooms, offices and other support facilities. The state appropriated $4.6 million for the project last year, and Gov. Mel Carnahan has recommended $11.95 million for the project this year.

The University plans to raise $12 to 15 million in private contributions for the project. In October, Southeast announced that it had received approval from the Missouri Development Finance Board to obtain $5 million in state tax credits over a four-year period for corporations and individuals making significant contributions to the River Campus. The remaining funds would come from the City of Cape Girardeau, where voters approved a tax plan for the project in November 1998.

Southeast plans to hire architects this spring to develop the final design for the River Campus. Sverdrup of St. Louis and Barton Meyers of Los Angeles are expected to work together to develop the design. Under the proposed agreement, Sverdrup would serve as the "architect of record" and ultimately be responsible for the overall project. Sverdrup would be responsible primarily for academic classrooms, labs, visual spaces for art, music, dance and theatre, and for the University Museum. Barton Meyers would serve as co-designer and collaborator with primary responsibility for performance spaces, such as the theatre and recital halls.

A River Campus Board of Managers was formed last fall and has been meeting on a regular basis to discuss issues surrounding the development of the campus. The Board has equal representation from both the City of Cape Girardeau and the University. In addition, Dr. Marc Strauss, who teaches dance in the Southeast Department of Physical Education, has been named associate dean in the College of Liberal Arts, with responsibility for coordinating the curriculum, programming and other aspects of the proposed new School of Visual and Performing Arts.

The River Campus project is expected to be completed in 2003. University officials say the River Campus will boost tourism in the region, economic development, cultural and arts programming, historic preservation and neighborhood redevelopment.

Otto and Della Seabaugh Polytechnic Building

In addition to the River Campus, the University also is making strides on what will soon become the Otto and Della Seabaugh Polytechnic Building. Groundbreaking ceremonies were held last June for the building. Gov. Mel Carnahan was on hand for the occasion.

The $8.8 million facility will house the recently formed School of Polytechnic Studies, which includes the University's Department of Industrial and Engineering Technology, the Department of Agriculture and the Manufacturing Technology Resource Center. Dr. Randy Shaw has been named dean of the new School. The Department of Industrial and Engineering Technology currently is housed in the aging Serena Building, where it has been located since 1906. The Department of Agriculture is located in Magill Hall. The new facility will provide space for training for industries and the latest advanced manufacturing technology for students. The building is expected to be completed in spring 2001.

The architectural firm of William B. Ittner, Inc., of St. Louis has designed the 60,000 square-foot building, which will be the "anchor" for the northeast part of the campus. The facility will be adjacent to the campus science quadrangle and will have command of the surrounding area with a prominent view of the Mississippi River and easy access and regress from the campus. The architectural design creates a unique appearance that exemplifies the high-tech curriculum to be offered in the building. It will be a three-story structure with labs and classrooms on the first and second floors and administrative offices on the third floor. Faculty offices will be located in one area to promote interaction among faculty.

"The School of Polytechnic Studies demonstrates Southeast's continuing commitment to offer high-quality technical and professional programs and to meet critical higher education needs of the region," said Dr. Dennis Holt, interim provost at Southeast. "The School is the result of the hard work of many people, most notably Dr. Randy Shaw, the excellent faculty in industrial technology and agriculture, and the generous contributions of Otto and Della Seabaugh. With the School of Polytechnic Studies now in place and, in the near future, the establishment of a School of Visual and Performing Arts, Southeast will be a truly comprehensive regional University."

Regional Outreach

In May, the Board of Regents approved the establishment of a Regional Public Service Institute. The Institute is incorporating the "Bootheel Initiative," which is researching ways and means of supporting a broad array of human services with the University working as a broker, engaging public service-provider agencies throughout Cape Girardeau and the Bootheel. The Bootheel Initiative is supported by funding provided by the Missouri legislature through the Division of Family Services.

The Regional Public Service Institute is coordinating the University's many public service activities and programs in the region in an effort to better serve the needs of regional families, agencies and organizations. The Institute is serving as a point of coordination, connecting federal and state dollars, regional economic development, social service needs, faculty scholarship and student learning.

Across the region, Southeast continues its efforts to deliver an affordable, efficient and easily accessible system of higher education, with a new emphasis on technology. Construction of a new Sikeston Area Higher Education Center is a step in that direction. Southeast, in partnership with Three Rivers Community College, is offering post-secondary education courses and technical training in a temporary facility in Sikeston to serve the Scott, New Madrid, Mississippi and Stoddard County areas. A new 33,000-square-foot facility currently is under construction and projected to be completed for the start of the fall 2000 semester.

The University also has been working with the people of the extreme Bootheel to plan a new outreach center with financial support from the City of Kennett. Work currently is under way to convert a former Kroger grocery store into a Kennett Area Higher Education Center. The project is expected to be complete later this spring.

Meanwhile, University officials also are discussing the creation of still another center to serve the northern part of the University's service area. Serving the region more effectively through both outreach centers and distance education has been discussed as part of the University's ongoing strategic planning process.

Strategic Planning

Last fall, the Board of Regents held a series of public forums throughout the service region as the University began another cycle of strategic planning. The Regents scheduled the forums to report on progress and outcomes since the first

forums were held in 1994 and to hear additional comments and recommendations as the University proceeds into the 21st century and beyond.

The University Planning Committee is making rapid progress in updating the University's 1996 Strategic Plan. As a result of the forums, the University Planning Committee revised the University's Mission, Role and Scope statement, a statement of Institutional Purposes, and a set of four Strategic Planning Priorities, which have been preliminarily approved by the Board of Regents.

"Strategic planning is a critical element in the continuous improvement of any organization and must be seen as a continuous process in the 'plan, do, check, act' cycle of quality improvement," Dobbins said. "Many of the initiatives set forth in the 1994 plan have been completed or are well under way. It's now time for the University to plan for another cycle as Southeast strives to meet the educational, economic and cultural needs of Southeast Missouri."

A new strategic plan is expected to be presented to the Board of Regents for its approval next December.

Capital Improvements

In addition to the progress being made on the River Campus project and Polytechnic Building, Southeast has seen several other capital improvements on campus during the 1999-2000 academic year.

The newly renovated Café Court opened in the University Center in January. This major renovation, funded by Southeast's new food service provider, Chartwells, includes not only a new look for the dining facility, but the addition of two new "branded foods" - Noble Roman Pizza and Chick-Fil-A. Chartwells also plans a major renovation in the Towers dining area during the summer of 2000.

Also new to the campus last fall was the Kala M. Stroup Fountain on the Plaza, which was dedicated Oct. 6. Stroup, former Southeast president and Missouri Commissioner of Higher Education, for whom the fountain in front of Kent Library is named, initiated the fountain project through a substantial gift she and her husband, Joe, made to the University Foundation.

Just a few weeks later in October 1999, Southeast held a ceremony to mark the opening of an addition to the Student Recreation Center. The addition to the facility brings total square footage in the Center to 90,000, making the Center one of the largest in the Midwest for institutions the size of Southeast.

Athletics

Meanwhile, the Athletic Department at Southeast has made great strides this year, both in capital improvements, leadership changes and athletic accomplishments.

Last weekend, the University's men basketball team won the Ohio Valley Conference tournament in Nashville, Tenn., giving the team its first-ever automatic bid to the NCAA Division I Tournament. Southeast had four players named to the six-player all-tournament team, and the victory over arch-rival Murray State University gives the Indians a 24-6 record as they continue their best-ever Division I season into "the Big Dance." In addition to winning the tournament, the Southeast Indians also were Ohio Valley Conference co-champions this year.

As the basketball season is climaxing, football season is just around the corner. Work recently began on a project that will result in the installation of FieldTurf brand synthetic grass at Houck Stadium. Vibra-Whirl, contractor for the project, recently began removing the grass surface and working on the subsoil. The new synthetic grass is expected to be rolled out later in the spring.

FieldTurf is a two-and-one-half permeable and infilled synthetic grass, which provides the look, feel and playability of natural grass with respect to ball speed and bounce and maximum safety to athletes. The entire system is resistant to weather, insects, rot, mildew and fungus growth, and it is non-toxic.

The new surface will allow for greatly expanded use of the playing field for both Southeast football and the

University's newest sport, varsity women's soccer, high school football, community soccer and marching band competitions. With installation of a synthetic grass playing field, usage of the surface can be expanded without concern about weather or damage to the surface.

Not only will Southeast's football team have new turf on which to play next season, the team also will be under new leadership next fall. In December, Southeast announced the hiring of Tim Billings as Southeast's new head football coach. Billings formerly was defensive coordinator at Marshall University -- the "winningest" college football program in the country in the 1990s.

"Tim Billings comes to us from an outstanding football program that simply doesn't know how to lose," Kaverman said. "His record, as part of that program over the last five years, has been 69-6. Moreover, Marshall University has graduated 80 percent of its football players and is second in the nation in its minority graduation rate. Tim Billings knows how to win both on the field and in the classroom. This represents a tremendous step forward for our program."

Science education in Southeast Missouri schools got a big boost in November with the official opening of the NASA Educator Resource Center at Southeast Missouri State University.

The impact of the Center now has been further enhanced through the recent donation of a Plymouth Voyager minivan to the Center by Galemore Motor Company, a Chrysler, Dodge, Plymouth and GMC dealer in Charleston, Mo.

According to Dr. Ernest Kern, director of the NASA Center, it has been difficult to conduct some activities in regional schools due to transportation problems.

"This has especially been the case with the StarLab Portable Planetarium," said Kern. "We have had many requests from schools throughout Southeast Missouri for our personnel to bring the StarLab to their schools and make presentations to the students. However, due to its bulk, the StarLab can only be easily transported in a truck or van."

This has resulted in some requests not being met, he said. "With this gift, we now have our own van and can more effectively meet the needs of the students and teachers, and not just for the StarLab, but for any NASA activity conducted in the schools that requires the transport of bulk materials," said Kern. "I just hope that Mr. Galemore realizes how much this gift will help science education in Southeast Missouri. He and his company are to be commended."

Richard Galemore, owner of Galemore Motor Company, said, "Unfortunately, there was nothing like StarLab available when I went to school. It's really a neat thing, and as many kids as possible should experience it. Donating the van was one way that I could help more kids in Charleston and other towns have that experience."

The NASA Educator Resource Center is located at 222 North Pacific in Cape Girardeau. The toll-free number is (877)-321-NASA.

Dr. Scott Gibbs, a respected local neurosurgeon and educator, will discuss some of his experiences in the mysterious and fascinating medical arenas, neurology and neurosurgery March 26 on the campus of Southeast Missouri State University.

The presentation is scheduled for 6 p.m. in Glenn Auditorium of Robert A. Dempster Hall. Accompanying Gibbs will be Dr. Larry Clark, director of the Honors Program at Southeast Missouri State. Clark will draw some parallels between the points Gibbs makes and the importance of attaining a broad-based liberal education to prepare for the rapidly changing, complex challenges people will face in their future.

This program is sponsored by the Honors Program and the School of University Studies. "The human brain is such a marvelously efficient organ that people rarely appreciate how much it does for until something goes awry with it," Clark said. "It is a scary situation to have to go 'under the knife' to have any bodily organ repaired. When that organ is our brain, the apprehension is even greater because it is so essential for our life and our consciousness."

Gibbs will describe and show a video of a procedure he performed to remove a tumor from the brain of a woman who lives in the local region. (Note: The video contains graphic depictions of real surgical procedures.) He will explain how modern neurosurgery is part cutting-edge technology and part age-old methods. He will demonstrate one of the newest tools in brain imaging, which is based on the Global Positioning System technology.

Gibbs will emphasize his need to combine an intricate knowledge of the brain with the skills of a master technician and the empathy of a counselor to help the whole patient prepare for and recover from a traumatic assault to his or her being. He will also promote the need for more public education about the wonders of the human brain and the importance of increasing research into its evolving mysteries.

The Department of Political Science, in cooperation with the League of Women Voters, is sponsoring a public forum with the candidates for the Cape Girardeau School Board Election and the Cape Girardeau City Council on Tuesday, March 21, at 7 p.m. in Glenn Auditorium of the Robert Dempster Building. The public is invited to attend and participate in the question and answer session.